


A Home for Jesse

by nerdy-flower (baconnegg)



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bickering, College age bois having good brofriend times, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, M/M, Making Love, Making Out, POV Jesse McCree, Tenderness, They're both kinda dumb but they love each other a lot, Though Jesse's only dumb when it comes to loooove, Trans Jesse McCree, and they were ROOMMATES, mild pining, supportive bfs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:41:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26016676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baconnegg/pseuds/nerdy-flower
Summary: Jesse and Genji fumble towards adulthood while sharing chores, urban exploring adventures, and maybe a couple longing looks.Or, best friends to best brofriends(A sequel to a 'A Home for Reyes')
Relationships: Background R76 - Relationship, Jesse McCree/Genji Shimada, background Hanzo/Amelie
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	A Home for Jesse

“C'mooooon, you can't just not go!” 

“I sure can.” Jesse carries on aimlessly flipping his pocket knife, Charley's tail thwacking him in the face as she and Genji wrestle on the grass beside him. “I haven't been inside the building in two fuckin' years, I don't know nobody there.” 

“You know _me,”_ Genji sits up and beams, as if that's the main selling point of the evening. “And you might never do homework again, isn't that worth celebrating?” 

“Pfft, I dunno.” Jesse tucks his tongue in his cheek. He doesn't much feel like planting himself between some of the assholes he's been avoiding ever since he switched to correspondence. The staring, the snickering, on top of sweating in a polyester potato sack- 

“I'll buy you dinner,” Genji adds along with a gentle punch to his shoulder, his smile bright and softer in the setting June sun. “Dessert and all. Isn't that worth a couple hours of your time?” 

Jesse isn't sure how, but Genji sells him on it. It's surreal to push through the heavy metal doors again, the halls eerily empty, but everyone's too caught up in themselves to pay him any mind. He plants himself on the gym wall as soon as he's gowned up and Genji finds him almost immediately, lingering until they're called into an alphabetical line. 

He supposes Genji's already had enough goodbyes with his final soccer games and swim meets, the beach party bacchanalia with Angela and their friends that got him so faded he lost his shoes and his wallet. Jesse just has more time to work at the pet store now. The sweet, cyclical burn of T-shots starting two months ago feels like a much bigger achievement. Listening to the scholarships everyone else is getting only reminds him that he isn't going anywhere. 

Even still, he can't help but grin when the crowded row of his family, plus Genji, absolutely lose their shit as he walks across the stage. All of the sudden, the obligatory piece of paper in his hand feels huge. 

“I'm so proud of you, mijo.” Gabe murmurs into his shoulder as they hug, having finally regrouped and located a corner of the back field that isn't choked with people. 

“Don't.” Jesse tries to laugh but it doesn't quite come out. 

“Crazy rich Asians, twelve o'clock,” Olivia mutters to him, cycling through the one billion photos they'd just taken on Abuelita's digital camera and deleting the blurry ones. His aunts and uncles can't stay, but they've already ruffled his hair and shoved brightly-coloured envelopes into his hands. Ana messaged him her and Fareeha's congratulations from the livestream before he even got off the stage. 

Jesse smacks her arm as Mr. and Mrs. Shimada approach, Genji between them and Hanzo trailing behind. All resplendent in suits and silks,. Mrs. Shimada's lips shining blood red as she smiles. “Do you mind if we get a few photos of you boys together?” 

They oblige though they're itching and sweating, the adults lapsing into the usual lingering parental chat while the kids kick at the grass and tug at their fancy outfits. Mr. Shimada turns his attention to Jesse, his voice always sounding like Hanzo's if it was bottled like thirty-year-old whiskey. “What did your GPA end up being?” 

“Uh,” Jesse fumbles with the manila envelope and squints at the bottom row of numbers. “Ninety-three.” 

Mr. Shimada smiles kindly, thick eyebrows arching up. “Congratulations! Did they not have enough honour cords?” 

“Ah, well-” 

“I squeaked by with a seventy-two.” Genji thrusts his all-over-the-map transcript between them, sparing Jesse from admitting that he'd flunked a handful of classes in the ninth and tenth grades and disqualified himself from any shiny awards. “Not bad, huh?” 

Mr. Shimada shakes his head, albeit fondly, and the conversation moves to summer plans and Hanzo's first year at UCLA until it's time to return their gowns and crush into the back of the ancient G-Reyes station wagon, Genji and Angela following in Hanzo's car. 

“Are you sure this is what you want for your grad dinner?” Jack asks, drumming his fingers on the faux leather interior. 

“If the kids want Denny's, they're getting Denny's,” Abuela affirms from the driver's seat as she turns up the bass. “We'll have to think of where to go for yours next week, hm, Olivia?” 

“Or we could skip it,” Liv sighs, smoothing her purple skirt over her lap. “Four more years of the same hellscape, but with lockers. I'm not excited.” 

“I went to mine, you're going to yours.” Jesse elbows her and gets elbowed back. “Let the old folks buy you flowers and take pictures, it's good for 'em.” 

“Who the hell are you calling old?” Abuela catches his eye in the rearview, laughing open-mouthed when he unsubtly points at Gabe and Jack. 

They spend the evening in a big back booth, the adults leaving them with their caps and cheques and roses, impressing that they call if they need a ride back. They order multiple rounds of pancake puppies and wax existential beneath the dangling light fixtures until almost one in the a.m. It's the same as every other time they've ended up there, except painted in hazy, plastic-film strokes. The weird hollow taste of trying to enjoy something as it's ending. 

The summer goes by awful quick, hot and smokey as beach trips are made and boardwalks are strolled. They get in one last group crawl through the old zoo at Griffith Park, writing their names in Sharpie on the concrete tunnel walls. Angela's the first to take off, for medical school on the East Coast. Jesse joins Hanzo, Genji, and their dad for a supply refresh at Target before Han leaves again. Others vanish in turn- Lúcio, Lena, Brigitte -leaving only Genji as he disappears into his community college schedule and stack of physiotherapy textbooks. 

All of a sudden their schedules don't fit together so neatly anymore. Reinhardt's good about booking time off, but Jesse's an assistant manager now and he doesn't wanna hassle the guy just so he can go smoke up in the movie theatre parking lot. Between work and going home to his same-old room, Jesse feels like he's drifting slowly out to sea. 

Genji makes as many new friends as Jesse expected he would, shining beacon of extroversion that he is, but he doesn't let go. When they can't hang out, they Skype while Genji does homework and Jesse types, backspaces, and retypes the little serial stories he likes to write when he has the time. “My voice is cracking all over the fuckin' place, how long did that last for you?” 

“Hmm, like a year? I can't remember.” Genji's tongue peeps between his lips on the grainy, poorly lit screen. “Maybe it'll go quicker for you? You already sound way different.” 

“Thanks,” Jesse sighs, slumping against his pillows until his chin almost touches his chest. “I hope it does. So far I'm just getting smellier and hairier everywhere but my face.” 

“Awh, give it time, bro. I didn't start shaving until I was fifteen.” Genji twirls a pen between his fingers, squinting in disappointment at whatever's on his screen. “Fuck, gen eds are so boring. What are you doing tomorrow?” 

“Day shift, eight to three. Where you wanna go?” 

“Anywhere but our parents' houses.” Genji leans back in his squeaky computer chair, scrubbing his hands over his face. “Dad's only teaching part-time this semester and he's always here and I just- I'm so _bored._ I wanna have people over without having to ask and be quiet and send them home at eleven, you know?” 

“No, yeah, I get ya.” Jesse isn't exactly an introvert himself. When he makes any new friends, it's not super exciting to invite them to his dad's house. He appreciates Jack's offers to feed everyone who walks through the door, but it's a little- well, the trajectory of his adult life isn't exactly pointing upwards at the moment. 

“We should get a place!” 

Jesse snaps his head up, steadying his wobbling laptop with one hand. “What?” 

“Yeah! You and me, let's get an apartment!” Genji's eyes are aglow with excitement, even in 480p. “You wanna move out eventually, right? It'll be easier if we split the rent!” 

“Ah, jeez, I dunno-” Any money he hasn't spent on stupid shit has been squirrelled away in his bank account and sock drawer. It might be enough for first and last, but then what? 

“You know I'm good for it.” Genji interrupts his thoughts, grinning away in his old basketball shirt. “I've only got one more year and then I have to find a real job, I'd much rather do that with you than hang around here by myself.” 

Jesse's lips curve on a knowing smile. “What, you don't have anyone else willing to put up with your lazy ass?” 

Genji flips him off briefly, unphased. “All my friends from class are straight girls. I don't have the emotional bandwidth to play the jealousy game, nuh-uh. Not interested.” 

“Fair enough.” Though his mind is booby-trapped with uncountable what-ifs, a green root winds its way to the front of his mind, blooming in the light of his friend's indomitable sun. “Where would you wanna move, anyhow?” 

Turns out when you're a couple of idiot teenagers with no credit, leasing a mediocre apartment takes a lot more help than Jesse was prepared for. None of them visibly mind, but it ends up feeling less like a leap into independence and an indebted extension of their childhood bedrooms. He should have waited, should have saved up more or something, but it's too far gone. 

Mr. Shimada examines the lease and helps them make calls. Mrs. Shimada takes them kitchen-shopping, Jack guides them through their first grocery run, and Jesse's tias help them and Gabe get the secondhand furniture up the exterior stairs with surprisingly minimal squabbling. 

After a promise to not run with scissors or leave the stove on, their dads and mom leave them alone, surrounded by cardboard boxes and empty cans, covered in sweat. The apartment isn't bad- the door opens directly into the living room, of which the kitchen occupies one wall. Just past the fridge (a gift from Tio Tonio's garage) is a stunted hallway with their bedrooms on either side, the criminally small bathroom at the end. 

“Wow, this is it.” Genji speaks into the summer air, not so much to Jesse. “We're officially moved the hell out.” 

Jesse offers a half-grin back, similarly staring into space. “Yep, we're real adults now.” 

“Thanks for doing this with me.” Jesse lolls his head over and finds Genji not-quite looking at him, not really much more adept at emotions than his older brother. “I would have been so fucking lonely if I did this by myself.” 

He shrugs, what little energy he has fading fast. “S'not the dumbest thing you've ever come up with.” 

Genji laughs- a loud, blunted cackle, and before long they're both passed out on either end of the couch. 

Their new neighbourhood is mostly freelance artist-types and their tomato plants, but it's written on Jesse's bones to keep the front blinds shut and tiptoe up to the peephole before unlocking the deadbolt. It's only Hanzo on the other side, his default dour expression uncreasing immediately. “Ah, Jesse, is Genji here?” 

“Yeah, he's just in the shower.” Jesse steps aside to let Hanzo in. They'd spent a lot of time together waiting for Genji to come home back in high school. Hanzo was always more than happy to pass down notes from the grade ahead and ruthlessly proofread Jesse's math worksheets in exchange for a second set of eyes on his essays. Plus, he sometimes let them into their parents' antique liquor cabinet. 

“I wanted to get you two a housewarming gift.” Hanzo produces a boxed rice cooker from the plastic bag dangling off his wrist. “I know you're short on space, but this should be small enough. Did you get the Internet hooked up yet?” 

“Awh thanks, and yeah, password's up there.” Jesse examines it with gratitude, gesturing to the notepaper taped to the cupboard door reading _'Network: Fmoneygetb Password: 4no1buttus.'_ “When are you headed back?” 

“Actually, I'm spending this semester abroad-” 

“So he can make out with his smoking hot French girlfriend in her own zip code.” Genji appears from around the corner, dressed only in board shorts and his smile all teeth. “Don't glare at me, I'm right.” 

Hanzo looks mildly homicidal under his overgrown bangs. “We're just friends.” 

“Right, right. And where are you staying while you're there?” Genji turns to Jesse when Hanzo refuses to answer. “I'll show you her Instagram later. No idea what her personality's like, but she is an illegal level of sexy.” 

“That's not-” Hanzo exhales through his nose. “Not a word of this to anyone else, understood?” 

“How much? My silence isn't free.” 

Jesse abandons them to their bickering and gets ready for work, relieved by an ounce of familiarity amongst the chaos. He wonders if him and Liv will grow apart now, though he's been summoned home and to Abuelita's for dinner once each already. Still, everybody's just so damn busy. 

Except Genji, of course. He peer tutors part-time, his parents gladly paying his rent. Jesse's at least blessed with never working later than nine, so they spend many an evening flopped on the sofa or Jesse's bed. Watching dumb movies and shows with too many episodes, half-dressed and eating chips right out of the bag. A fragile peace cradling the air around them while Los Angeles buzzes, hums, and screeches outside. 

Peace doesn't last long, of course. The third time Genji stains the bathroom sink with bright green hair dye results in a mutual blow-up. Genji can't see the problem and Jesse can't see how Genji can't possibly see the problem. The cold war lasts past dinnertime, Genji glaring at him over the fridge door while he resentfully scrubs the dishes. “You're not seriously still pissed.” 

“Yeah, I fuckin' am, actually.” Jesse snaps back, firing a dollar-store spatula into the dish rack. “We're not gonna live together forever. I need this reference, you don't.” 

Genji rolls his eyes, cracking open his beer and kicking the door shut. “You are being ridiculous.” 

“No, I'm not! Don't you get it?” Jesse wrenches the stopper from the sink, his temples burning. “Gabe can't just write me a cheque. If I fuck this up, I have to move back in and I can't- that's not a fucking option for me, okay? Go wreck someone else's security deposit.” 

Genji can move back into his mansion whenever he wants. Jesse has to do this forever now. He can't turn into the fuck-up he was supposed to be. 

His tongue sits curled in his mouth, waiting for another showdown, but Genji's quiet for a stretch. “Hey.” Jesse looks up, finding his roommate looking pensive, only the faintest twitch of a smile at the corner of his lips. “I'll find a way to paint over it or something, okay? I bet the landlord won't even notice.” 

“Alright,” Jesse shrugs, his defences deflating. “We can hope.” 

“Smoke a bowl in there so the paint fades and we're good.” 

“Man, we talked about this. Only with the shower on.” 

“Pfft, I'll Febreeze it, good luck finding an apartment on this coast that hasn't been hotboxed.” Another long stretch while Genji sips his frothy beer. “You know Gabe would never kick you out, right?” 

Jesse looks at him sideways. “That's not the point.” 

“I know, but,” Genji purses his lips, the fluorescent kitchen light reflecting in his new glasses. “He's only had you for what, six years? Kids are most expensive in the first twelve. You're like, the opposite of a burden.” 

“Thanks for your wisdom.” Jesse smiles at him sideways before hucking a roll of paper towels at his head. “Now go clean your piss stains off the toilet lid.” 

As much as Genji gripes and acts like the spoiled second son he is, their fights never last. They're soon stretched out in front of the TV, watching old detective shows on the basic cable that came with the place while Genji dolls himself up for a night out. Following along with a muted makeup tutorial via the phone balanced on his knee, until his handsome face is dewy and sparkly enough for whatever house party he's been invited to this weekend. 

Jesse feels a twinge of sadness when Genji gets up to leave. “Call me if you get ditched again, okay? Ubers are a ripoff on the weekends.” 

“I will, I will.” Genji pats Jesse's shoulder on the way by, tucking his essentials into his too-small shorts and tightening his suspenders over his bared midriff. “You sure you don't wanna go? This one probably won't suck.” 

“Nah,” Jesse yawns and shakes his head. “I'll go when I can finally grow a goddamn beard.” 

“I think it's on its way.” Genji runs his palm thoughtfully over Jesse's cheek. “I swear, I can feel a five o'clock shadow right below the surface.” 

“Psht, that's just my skin freaking out.” Jesse brushes him off, suddenly embarrassed. “Friggin' LA air.” 

Genji chuckles, tugging on his shoes. “I'll get you some moisturizer samples the next time I go see that cute Lush boy.” 

“Don't hit on people while they're working,” Jesse halfheartedly grumbles after him. “And don't forget your keys!” 

They drag their laundry to the Shimadas' when they can, and stay for dinner if Jesse has time to whip up a potato salad or something real quick beforehand. They mutually agree to a chore chart like the children they are. The rent always gets paid on time even though the website is janky as hell. Genji isn't as bad at cooking as he pretends to be. Jesse unclogs their toilet successfully on two consecutive weekend nights. They start sharing body wash because their shower's so damn small you can't turn around without knocking shit over. With each week it feels less scary and more- normal. This is their life now, this is their home for however long they have it. 

Only one tiny problem, and it's mostly to do with Genji's ability to conk out here, there, and anywhere. Sometimes he'll stick his head in Jesse's room to ask him something, plop down on the bed to watch whatever he's doing on his laptop, and pass the fuck out not two seconds later. 

Which would be a mild annoyance at most if he didn't pass out _on_ Jesse most times, slumped against his side or curled up beside his lap like a goddamn cat. Genji will get right in your bubble when awake unless told otherwise, casual in his touches and perpetually in motion until he nods off, full lips parted slightly- 

Hell, maybe even that would be an occasional bother at most. Except they agreed not to hassle each other about guests unless they were rude or loud, and Genji will periodically slip some giggling girl or guy into his room late at night. Sometimes Jesse's too burnt from dealing with customers to register it until he hears the quiet _slapslapslap_ and he has to stuff his earbuds in at record speed. 

And even that would be fine, part and parcel of having a roommate. But on top of everything, Genji just _has_ to walk around the apartment in these tight little fried-egg pattern briefs and bend over to take frozen pizzas out of the oven and it's not even kind of alright. He had to have sold his soul to the Devil for an ass that perky, it's unnatural. 

Jesse quietly clicks in to his own ill-fated suffering. He can't ruin this- not just for practical reasons, Genji's not half the rent. They've been friends since he moved into Gabe's house and joined his eighth grade class in the middle of the year. They didn't exactly get along straightaway, but Genji kept sitting beside him at lucnh. Even now, after his worst moments, Genji will still wander back to him and ask if he wants to go to some new arcade or grab McDonald's or go swimming at night. 

“Hey, loser.” Genji perches his ass on the edge of Jesse's bed after a spectacularly shitty shift that no amount of kindness from Reinhardt could rectify. “I decoded your vague-texting and got you ice cream.” 

Jesse rolls away from the wall and begrudgingly takes the spoon offered to him, unbothered by the prospect of mono or herpes as they share the pint of chocolate fudge brownie. His ribs hurt from binding too long and his head hurts from how long everything takes, and how little of an idea he has about what to do with his life except scrape by and fill word docs with first draft mysteries. 

“Weren't you meeting up with Zenyatta tonight?” 

Genji shakes his head, mouth full as he scrolls idly through his phone, the picture of chill in full-body athleisure. “We rescheduled for tomorrow. His project's not due till Monday anyway.” 

Jesse's mouth pulls to one side. “S'probably not a good look to cancel on him last minute, though.” 

Genji glances at him and snickers. “Oh, no, I'm literally helping him with his project. I'm not trying to smash, he's too smart for me.” 

Jesse recalls, albeit vaguely, both of them getting very drunk at Angela's birthday party last winter break and Genji rambling about how great it was not having anyone expect anything from him, but the way he laughed about it wasn't right, wasn't him. “That's not true.” 

Genji looks at him sideways and shoves his glasses back up. “Don't take it seriously, Jess. C'mon, you can pick the movie tonight.” 

He curls up beside Jesse, pulling his hoodie over his knees and settling himself against the array of pillows Jesse sleeps with. He sits close, unbothered by the usual constraints of guy friendships. He smells good, and he's so comfortable that they can pass hours without talking, playing with their phones whenever they please, simply existing with each other. 

Jesse's trying hard to have a good year, and one of the best things about it is also the thing that sucks the most. 

Maybe he's selfish. It should be enough to follow Genji on haphazard adventures to birthday parties, Costco, and on stony late-night walks to nowhere. But he keeps staring at Genji's curvaceous mouth when he talks, his twitching eyelashes when he sleeps on the couch, and the electric vibrance of his whole being when he gets excited about something, even if it's only a package he ordered. 

And yes, okay, second puberty is making him relentlessly horny and leaves him wanting to rub himself all over Genji's everything when he struts around in a towel, abs on indecent display. But if it was only that, surely jerking off would solve the problem. And surely he'd dream of raunchier stuff than Genji hugging him and holding him tight to his bare chest and- god _damnit._

“How long do you think this place has been empty?” Genji asks over his shoulder as they traverse the layer of trash on the abandoned steakhouse floor. Urban exploring feels a smidge riskier now that they can both be charged as adults, but there's worse things in life than a trespassing ticket. Besides, they can't let their fifty subscribers down. 

“Property's been listed since twenty-fourteen,” Jesse murmurs back, panning his camera up to the ceiling where the acoustic tiles hang wet and loose. “I think they're just selling the lot now, no way they're renovating this mess.” 

“Jesse, look!” He swings the camera back in the direction of Genji's flashlight, expecting an angry family of rats, instead seeing a bunch of tacky faux-Old West paintings leaning against wall, surprisingly intact. “Bro, we have to take one home with us. This is like finding buried treasure.” 

“How the hell are we gonna get it outta here? 'Sides, they're probably full of mould.” Jesse ducks around a fallen ceiling lamp, a grin tugging at his lips. “C'mon, let's see how nasty the kitchen is.” 

Gabe's the only one to question the garish cowgirl portrait hanging over their couch some weeks later. Without making eye contact, the two of them manage to mutually shrug and mutter about a garage sale. 

“I really hope they hire me.” Genji drops onto his end of the couch and snatches his container of pho like a bear raiding a dumpster. The black college-issued shirt with his name embroidered in nigh-unreadable font over his left tit looks kinda handsome on him, it's not fair. “The couple that own the place keep hinting, but I really can't tell if they're fucking with me or not.” 

“You wouldn't wanna work with them anyways if they were,” Jesse says around his own food, subtly tugging his shorts out of where they've bunched in his asscrack. “Do you like it there?” 

“Yeah, I mean, the people are cool and I dunno- maybe it's the consistency.” Genji attractively slurps up a loose noodle, leaving liquid glinting on the stubble dotting his chin. “It's nice to be good at something.” 

Jesse clicks his tongue, glancing over and not skimming the sadness from his tone. “You're good at lots of stuff.” 

“I mean like, employable skills.” Genji snorts, planting his sneaker-clad feet on the coffee table like a heathen. “Can't exactly find work going down on people.” 

“Well-” 

“Okay I could, but I don't need to get in shit with the IRS.” 

It's Jesse's turn to snort as he pulls his hair back, tying it off with the black elastic around his wrist. Maybe he can bribe Liv into cutting his hair again, or else Fareeha'll make fun of him when she's down. “That's your biggest worry?” 

“Yeah, can you imagine? Going to tax jail because you didn't submit your dick-sucking 1099?” Genji giggles to himself, raspy and stupidly infectious even when he's tired. “Is Reinhardt gonna give you that raise?” 

“Yeah, next pay period. He's good for it.” 

“Oh yeah, of course,” Genji scoffs. Rein couldn't lie to anyone if he tried. “Treat yourself then, you've earned it. You bust a lot of ass for those hamsters.” 

“Nah, I'm saving for a decent gym membership. Being on my feet all day ain't enough anymore.” Jesse pokes his gut where it bulges over the elastic of his plaid boxers. He's getting bigger and wider everywhere, his shoes are even starting to pinch, but this isn't a change he wants. 

“Get jacked if you want, but don't lose the gut. It's my napping spot.” With that, Genji drops his empty styrofoam bowl on the table and flips himself sideways, laying his head on Jesse's lap. “See? Comfy.” 

“Pfft, okay.” Jesse chuckles, looking at his phone, anywhere but Genji. He pretends he doesn't like it, ignores the teasing wisps in his brain, tries to tell his hormones to calm the fuck- 

A snore erupts from his lap. “Dude, _no._ Go to bed!” 

Genji's snuggling habits and shaking his ass to K-pop all over their shared five hundred square-feet isn't the worst of it, somehow. Being around each other, relying on each other is enough, it always has been, and a couple looks don't hurt anybody. But when Genji's attention turns towards him, Jesse feels caught. 

When he buys him fries, picks up an unexpected bill, or tosses a new three-pack of discount bin socks his way, Jesse doesn't know what to do. Genji might be a little rich bitch in the end, but it feels too much like- what they could be. And the explanation doesn't help none. 

“I want to be more like you.” Genji shrugs, ducking a smile as he stretches on the thinly-carpeted floor of Jesse's bedroom, reaching for his hairy toes. “And you're saving for top surgery, right? That's like ten grand by itself.” 

“Yeah.” Jesse blows his smoke towards the fan, his radio on low in the corner, only the glowing digits visible. “Yeah, it sure the shit is.” 

Genji's final semester lacks the gravitas of finishing high school. The weeks tick by, they jockey for the bathroom in the morning, Jesse finally learns how to change a car battery on a chilly spring evening in the shopping plaza parking lot. Highlighted notes spread across their coffee table, Genji tenderly strokes the rice cooker like it's a partner giving birth, business as usual. 

“Seriously?” Jesse throws both eyebrows up after starting Netflix on his laptop. “You're seriously not gonna go to your grad after all the shit you gave me?” 

“Don't come for me like that,” Genji whines, dropping an armload of snacks on Jesse's nightstand. “We haven't been together long enough to get all nostalgic and shit, half my class is middle-aged dads rebooting their careers. It's not the same.” 

“Your parents are probably gonna make you go. Your mom will, at least.” 

“Yeah, they will.” Genji drops his sweatpants unceremoniously. “But you'll still love me, right?” 

“C'mon, Gen.” Jesse tries to brush it off as Genji clambers into his bed in only his boxers, clamping onto his side. 

“You're a good guy, you get it.” Genji mumbles against his shoulder, only his puff of green hair visible. He's more tired than buzzed, though his skin feels so warm against Jesse's. “You won't hate me if I end up working at Subway, right?” 

“Genji, don't-” The words slip out as he tenses, unable to stop the mistake before he makes it. “You can't keep getting all cuddly like this.” 

Genji sits back, like a rabbit on its haunches, pretty brown eyes round and confused. “Why not? It never bothered you before.” 

“Yeah, I know, but with the no pants and the-” Jesse gestures haplessly, looking away. Yep, gone and ruined it, made it weird. And Genji just keeps on staring, his expression unreadable. 

“What, does it- do I get you hard?” 

Jesse mashes a hand against his face, so utterly exasperated by the teasing edge to Genji's words. “Not just that, Jesus Christ.” 

“What, for real?” 

“Yes.” That comes out as a tight hiss. Jesse belatedly reaches for his laptop, the mood shot dead, but Genji grabs his wrist. 

“Bro.” Jesse wasn't ready for how soft Genji's voice goes, or the lack of mockery in his eye-crinkled smile. “Come here.” 

You're not supposed to make out with your roommates. You're not supposed to lean in as their hands cradle your thickened jaw and brush your chapped lips against theirs. You're not supposed to taste the softness of their mouth, let their tongue slide behind your front teeth, and sink your fingers into their hair. You definitely aren't supposed to lay back and let them have everything, show them all your soft spots and just how easily they could hurt you if they wanted. 

Genji is the prince of unbothered, reaching back from where he straddles Jesse's lap and grabbing his confused hands, shoving them onto his ass. “Oh, uh, that's-” 

“Too fast?” Genji tilts his head, a tender smirk curling up. “Sorry, I just wanted you to quit hover-handing me.” 

“Hah, sorry. I was, definitely not expecting this.” Jesse drops his eyes, feeling flushed and addled and all kinds of good. Party hook-ups don't match up to this, and all they've done is make out. 

“Yeah.” Genji lets the word hang, brushing hair back from Jesse's face and giving him that twisty feeling in his gut again. Like when he comes home with two gelatos or carefully paints a goopy, weird-smelling mask onto Jesse's cheeks and forehead. “Is it cool if we cuddle a bit? I'll go sleep in my own bed if you want.” 

“Oh sure, yeah. S'all good.” Jesse lays still while Genji drapes himself across his body, their feet dangling off the side of the not-quite-double mattress. Genji's hot breath against his neck, the strength of his waist in his arms- “Your dick is poking me.” 

“I know and I apologize.” Genji sighs, resettling himself. “You got me excited, that's all.” 

The mere idea that an unshowered, greasy, sweatpants and stretched tank top-clad Jesse could get Genji the amateur Instagram model rock hard is enough to button his lips and keep him lost in the way they fit together, the way Genji's hand holds his. 

Maybe it should be scary, and maybe it is in some moments, but then it just- isn't. There's nothing to hide, no ice to break, no playing around. He doesn't need to hold on tight to keep this from slipping away, though he does want to hate how stupid Genji gets him sometimes. 

“God, you are so fucking cute.” 

“Shut up.” Jesse grins, abashed as Genji keeps hold of one cheek and covers the other in kisses until the oven timer goes off. “Lasagna's done.” 

“And you cook, I'm so lucky.” Genji's hands get all up on his hips as he takes their dinner out to cool, his face pressed between his shoulderblades as he inhales. “And your ass is incredible.” 

“What about my personality?” 

“Eh.” 

“Man, fuck you.” 

“I wish you would.” 

Jesse cracks Genji's bare thigh with a dishtowel. “Protein first, I gotta do inventory tomorrow.” 

He hasn't gotten the chance to be romantic with anyone outside of his imagination in- ever, so he worries about being too much, too clingy for even his best friend. But Genji practically purrs at his tender touches, pressing back against him long after he's fallen asleep and Jesse's laid awake a little longer to trace the stray hairs along his nape and the soft skin of his chest. He looks like a slumbering Bernini sculpture, painted in pinks and coppers and accented in black and vivid green. 

Genji is borderline comatose when Jesse gets back from work during finals week, but stretches his arms eagerly upwards, like a child reaching for a teddy. “Jesse's home!” 

“You done studying?” Jesse murmurs, crouching down to let himself be loved on and feeling his cheeks heat. “I can quiz you again if y'want.” 

“No quizzes.” Genji smooches him wet and square on the lips, arms looped around his neck. “As long as I pass I don't care, come sit with me.” 

The gasping smile when Jesse buys him retro Silly Putty from the corner store. The sweep of a thick eyebrow beneath his thumb. The lifetime achievement of making a Shimada blush from a compliment. It's like he almost tripped but the ground rose up to catch him. A rush of fresh air in his lungs, the world outside their window soft and new as Genji kisses freshwater to his mouth and rubs liquid gold into his skin. 

**GS:** Nudes Y/N? 

**JM:** Oh wow 

**JM:** I mean I'm alone so Y? 

**GS:** (1 image attached) 

**JM:** Goddamn 

**JM:** You're so comfortable when you're undressed, it makes you even more stunning <3 I wanna hold you rn 

**GS:** Fffff you're gonna kill me one of these days <3 

Jesse wishes their shower was big enough to share, so they can wash the grit of abandoned houses and Blockbusters out of each other's skin, but he'll settle for Genji gently towelling off his hair. 

“I don't wanna crush your balls, hon.” 

“You're not that heavy.” Genji grins up at him, eyes shining with longing lust as he tugs Jesse down onto his lap. “Look at you, I could totally pick you up.” Kissing up the centre of his chest, he runs his greedy hands all over Jesse's flanks and back, pausing to squeeze a juicy handful of his ass. “How'd that dream go again?” 

“Don't make fun of me,” Jesse huffs, shakier than he means to. 

Genji grins, pressing more kisses to his collarbones. “I'm not, I just want to make you feel good.” 

The guy gets him stupid, yeah, but Jesse can render Genji useless simply by sucking on his neck the right way, his legs kicking up on either side of Jesse's waist. Genji can tease him for being loud all he wants, he's never even heard a porn actor make noises like _that._

They drive up to Monterey on the day Genji's grades come in and sit facing the beach, watching the bioluminescent waves roll in, silent before the sci-fi beauty and the indifferent stars. Genji's curled up all cute under his arm, his temple warm and faintly salty beneath his lips. 

Angela comes back for the summer and steals both of their attention, fascinating and fun even after weeks of overdoing it. Abuelita puts them on BBQ duty, Gabe and Jack never send them home without leftovers, and the Shimadas don't treat him any different, not much at least. 

“Jesse, come here.” Mr. Shimada commands him so crisply that Jesse nips away from the sink full of dirty dishes to find the man's tablet propped up on the marble breakfast island. “Watch this, Taeko digitized our home videos recently-” 

The sibling squawking in the background doesn't dissuade him from fast-forwarding to a long-haired toddler cradling a drooling baby, a much younger Mr. Shimada crouched beside him. “See, I thought it would be funny to tell Hanzo it was time to take Genji back to the hospital-” 

Little Hanzo's eyes go wide as his father speaks, his face quickly flushing red as he begins to bawl at an ear-splitting pitch. Jesse can barely choke back his laughter as Genji groans and leans heavily on his arm. 

“Oh, I remember this one!” Mrs. Shimada approaches, passing Jesse a small glass of gin and tonic with an approving nod. Her long, painted fingers curl affectionately around Mr. Shimada's shoulder as she sighs. “We couldn't calm him down. He kept saying 'He's my baby! I'll take care of him, I promise!' Oh, they were so sweet.” 

“That is a bit cute,” Amélie remarks, a faint smile on her pale lips. 

“Don't encourage them,” Hanzo hisses, his hand resting very platonically on her lower back. 

On the video, Genji's begun to cry as well. Mr. Shimada rocks them both and mouths something to his wife, his expression filled with regret while the camera shakes minutely. For all his whinging, Genji patiently accepts a grocery bag, cautions, and a kiss on his forehead as they leave. More surprising is that Jesse is treated to much the same. 

“I should really get a driver's license,” Genji remarks as they buckle themselves in and drive into the light-polluted darkness. 

“Yeah you should, you useless twink.” Jesse chuckles at the mean smack that lands against his thigh. “Is that a taste of later?” 

“Mm, in the morning, I'm sleepy.” Genji had woken Jesse up last night with the blinding glow of his laptop, not so much applying for jobs by then as caught in a frustrated loop of doom-scrolling through entry level postings. 

Jesse lifts his arm and Genji slips under it, the old Chevy rattling faintly towards home, the same way the metal stairs up to their door shake under their feet as the ocean winds whip up. Jesse puts their tupperware away and scrubs a weird orange blotch off the counter whilst Genji conducts his nightly fifteen-step facewashing routine in the bathroom. Jesse strips and claims the inside half of the bed, or else Genji's restless leg syndrome will kick him to the edge all night long. His ribs are sore again, a worthwhile toll as the weather warms and hoodies disappear. Nothing he can't sublimate into another Joel Morricone chapter and transferring an extra five bucks into his savings. 

Genji crawls in bare beside him at last, facing inward, laying on one folded arm as their eyes find each other. Fingers trace where lips don't reach, silky-soft and warm and dry in their bed, cool air coming through the crack in the window frame. Genji presses up against him as he always does, exhaling fully in the span of Jesse's arms. “If my parents start joking about weddings, don't get mad, okay? I love them and stuff, but they're the worst.” 

“I-” Jesse swallows, licks his lips. “Why would I get mad about that?” 

Genji draws back, regards him for a curious moment in the dim glow of their charging phones, and kisses him sweet, fingers brushing through his tangled hair. Rolls over and wriggles back, pulling Jesse's arm over him along with more than his share of the duvet. Holds his hand tight and brushes his thumb across Jesse's rough knuckles. 

Over eggs and bacon, Jesse tells Genji he loves him, because it's always been true.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is dedicated to my pal sinunamor (go look at her art on tumblr it's good)! This was supposed to be a birthday gift but it's really late! Sorry! 
> 
> I wrote a fic that isn't McHanzo? Shock! Gasp! But I'm a dedicated multishipper and I love McGenji with all my heart. Bless all the content creators, y'all are great. Nothings like bros who kiss! 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed, thank you so much fore reading! I'm tempted to write a whole-ass fic rendering one of their ridiculous urban exploring YouTube videos in written form but I don't know if I could subject y'all to that. Much love and stay safe!


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